Shockwave Lithotripsy – what to expect.
Many urinary tract stones can be broken up by beaming a shockwave on them. Shockwaves pass through soft tissue but a hard body such as a stone absorbs the shockwave energy and can be broken into small pieces which then pass in the urine. On the day of the procedure, you will usually have an x-ray (to check the position of the stone) along with a urine sample. You should be fasting for 4 hours beforehand (a light breakfast at 8 a.m. e.g. tea & toast) can be taken. About 1 hour before the procedure you will receive an injection of a strong painkiller.
The procedure itself:
Shockwave lithotripsy is delivered on an x-ray table. Various monitors (heart-rate, blood pressure etc.) are connected and a sort of sling is placed around one arm to keep it away from the machine. The first step is to find the stone and this involves moving the table whilst some x-rays are taken. Once the stone has been located accurately the procedure begins. It takes generally 40 minutes (or thereabouts) to deliver a large number of shocks to the stone. The machine makes a loud banging noise with each shock (you will be given headphones).
How painful is it?
Many patients do find the procedure uncomfortable. If, however, you find it excessively uncomfortable, you can be given a sedative (somewhat like an anaesthetic) which should make it more tolerable. Once the procedure is finished, any discomfort should settle very quickly.
After-effects:
It is quite common to have some blood in the urine for 2 or 3 days afterwards. If this is the case, you should drink plenty of fluid. Small fragments of stone pass, usually without any pain or discomfort. If you do experience colic or pain you should contact the Out-Patients Department (021-542807) or your own general practitioner. You should not drive or operate anything hazardous (machinery etc.) for 24 hours after the procedure. This means someone will need to take you home following lithotripsy.
Follow-up:
A single session of lithotripsy is often enough to deal with small stones. However, larger stones, or those which might be difficult to see on x-ray, sometimes require more than one session and this is checked by performing an x-ray 2 weeks (or thereabouts) following the procedure.